So, back on March 5, Surrey, B.C.’s Central City Brewers had a problem. They were launching Detective Saison, a new brew that was to be the first in the Central City Story, which tells the gritty, neo-noir story of Central City. Each new beer released represents a different character in the story, which is told on labels, on the brewery’s website and through social media.

Here’s the problem: some eagle-eyed fans noticed the Detective Saison character bore an uncanny resemblance to Deena Pilgrim, a main character in the beloved detective comic book series Powers. Central City immediately got to work on recalling as many of the bottles that had been sent out as possible, and got Vancouver design firm Barnstorm Creative to create a new label. But instead of issuing a boring old mea culpa press release, Central City turned the mishap into part of the story.

And it went like this: Detective Saison was actually kidnapped and had her identity stolen. The real Saison fought of the thugs, managed to escape and exposed her replacement for who she really was. And now, the pissed-off detective and Central City have gone to work exposing the impostor wherever she lurks by getting as many bottles of the first run of the beer as they can and replacing them with the true visage of the hard-nosed crimefighter.

Credits:

Brand: Detective Saison (Central City Brewers and Distillers)
Design Agency: Barnstorm Creative
Graphic Designer: Ron Fiedler